EAST HARTFORD — A former town police sergeant is facing a lawsuit from three state police troopers struck and injured by a drunken driver, according to court records.

The lawsuit claims that early on Sept. 1, 2012, Sgt. Kenneth Combs stopped in at the strip club Kahoots while on duty and “fraternized with the employees, including four female exotic dancers.”

Combs also had an encounter with a patron, William Bowers, who later left the club and drove his car into three state police cars while troopers were conducting a traffic stop on the Sisson Avenue Exit 46 on I-84 in Hartford, according to court records.

Bowers was convicted of drunken driving, felony second-degree assault with a motor vehicle, and two counts of second-degree assault as a result of the crash and sentenced to 22 months in jail, according to court records.

He had a previous drunken driving conviction in Manchester in 2008.

The troopers — Robert Zdrojeski, Scott Menard, and Darren Connolly — were injured in the crash, and are seeking damages in excess of $15,000 from Combs and the town of East Hartford. The troopers' lawsuit claims that Combs should have been able to identify that Bowers was heavily intoxicated and taken steps to prevent him from driving and causing the crash.

Combs retired in 2013 after nearly 30 years with East Hartford police.

Kahoots closed in 2013 after two employees were arrested on drug charges and a dancer was charged with prostitution.

Leinad Inc., which operates as Kahoots, admitted liability for its bartenders overserving Bowers and paid the three troopers a combined total of $83,333.33, according to court records.

The troopers' lawsuit was filed in August 2014, and jury selection in a potential trial is scheduled to begin in November 2016.

Combs' lawyer, Scott Karsten, has filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that police officers' ability to make judgment calls in the line of duty is protected by governmental immunity. Court records show Combs has also claimed that the troopers' injuries were “a result of their own negligence and carelessness,” and that their traffic stop on the exit ramp was improper.

Combs said in a deposition and an interview as part of an internal affairs investigation by East Hartford police that he did interact with Bowers, but did not think he was very drunk, or that he would be driving himself home.

Jeffrey L. Ment, who is representing the troopers, said Combs has a history of inappropriate behavior and negligence as an officer.

“He's got a trail, a long trail of paper that he drags behind him,” Ment said. “He has dozens of internal affairs investigations and he has been chastised and ordered not to be hanging around a strip club.”

Karsten denied that, and Combs said in the deposition that he went to Kahoots twice on the night of the crash on routine patrol to identify any potential problems with patrons.

Ment said Combs claimed he was there “to prevent bad things from happening to good people,” but failed in that regard with Bowers.

“At a bare minimum Combs knew that this guy had been inside for several hours and had been drinking,” Ment said. “I'm 100 percent certain Combs could have done something more.”

Ment dismissed the claims for government immunity, and the charge that the troopers were negligent during the traffic stop.

He said one trooper suffered a head injury, one had surgery for a nerve problem in his elbow, and the third has neck and back pain as a result of the crash.

All three have returned to work.

“They don't want to take the easy way out,” Ment said. But “it's a scary traumatic accident ... they think of it every day, is what they say, every night out there, every traffic stop is a reminder.”

“Obviously we have a different view of it,” Karsten said. “We don't believe that Combs did anything that was either a violation of East Hartford policy or was negligent on its face under standard principles.”

Karsten said Combs had no reason to believe Bowers would be driving, and his actions did not cause the crash.

“We're quite confident that this is a case that the town and Combs will prevail on,” Karsten said.

Combs' history with the police department includes a 2006 arrest for disorderly conduct, a 2003 reprimand for sleeping while on duty, and a three-week suspension in 1996 for two instances of drinking while on duty. He has also received citations for his work with the department.